Grey Ceiling
by amyxaphania
Summary: It wasn’t a passionate kiss, it was a kiss of promise, a kiss that told him her feelings for him, a kiss of hope for the future... When a grey ceiling has descended on the world, what do you do?


A/N: This fic is my first foray into the world of angst, and I hope I did it justice. The title comes from the first line of the Sister Hazel song, "Your Winter". I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. The quote at the beginning is the first line of the song "The Weakness in Me" by Joan Armatrading, which is a beautiful song, if you ever get the chance to listen to it.

**Grey Ceiling**

_I'm not the sort of person who falls in and quickly out of love. But to you, I give my affection, right from the start -_ The Weakness in Me, Joan Armatrading

Ginny's heart pounded as she tiptoed across the dark forest floor. She had her wand held aloft in front of her, yet the tip gave off no light, that would be too dangerous. Even the smallest pinprick of light could alert any Death Eaters to her presence.

It was the blackest part of the night. The dark seemed to envelop her, seemed to surround her completely, swallowing her up in its obscurity. She crept quietly forward, trying not to exert too much pressure on the ground beneath her feet, for fear of snapping a twig, or crunching dried leaves.

She couldn't deny that she was scared. Who wouldn't be, alone in the Forbidden Forest, knowing that there were probably Death Eaters in the near vicinity? She shuddered at the thought, and tried not to think about where her friends were. Were they safe? Or had they, Merlin forbid, been caught?

The twenty-four hours leading up to this moment had been a blur of hurried conversations, worried whisperings and stolen kisses. Yesterday morning, Ginny had been sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room with Neville and Luna; they were talking sombrely of the war outside Hogwarts' gates, reading the _Prophet_, taking in the accounts of mass murders in Manchester, of mysterious disappearances in Dorset and of burning buildings in Birmingham.

The war, whilst not directly touching Hogwarts, had had an effect on its inhabitants, staff and pupils alike. It had been February when Ginny had been told by an unusually moist-eyed McGonagall that Remus Lupin had been killed by Fenrir Greyback. In April, she had received a shakily-written letter from her Mother, informing her that Bill was dead, killed by Goblin rebels he had been trying to negotiate with. Last month, during one of the rare Hogsmeade weekends, Colin Creevey had been captured by Death Eaters. They had heard nothing of him, until last week, when his body had been found near the lake, scorched and mutilated.

The war was tearing the wizarding community apart. Morale was at an all time low, a lot of people had simply given up, not seeing any point in continuing the fight, when they surely couldn't win. It was as though a grey ceiling had descended on the wizarding world, and it wouldn't be lifted until Voldemort was defeated.

Neville, Luna and herself had been discussing the sorry state of the world, when the portrait hole opened quite suddenly.

Ginny had looked up, and found herself staring into a pair of green eyes, belonging to a man with messy black hair. Harry. Behind him stood Ron and Hermione, all three looked weary and exhausted. Ginny could see that Hermione had lost weight; her once curvy body looked emaciated, drawn. Harry, who'd left a boy, had returned a man; he had a shadow of a beard on his chin, he looked older, hardened. Ron, she was happy to say, looked much the same as when she'd last seen him a year ago.

Now, tiptoeing through the undergrowth, unsure of whether she was trying to get out of the forest, or trying to go further in, she remembered with vivid clarity the ensuing conversation.

888

_They stared at each other for an interminable amount of time. Ginny felt her breath catch in her throat. Here was Harry, Harry who had disappeared the day after Bill and Fleur's wedding, taking Ron and Hermione with him. No one had heard from them for a year, yet here they were, standing in Gryffindor Common Room, looking to the casual observer as though they had not left._

_It was Neville who broke the silence._

"_Harry?" His voice sounded uncertain, unsure, "What are you, I mean, why-?"_

"_We've done it," he said, his voice deeper than Ginny remembered, "we destroyed them all."_

_Ginny's heart had stopped. She'd known immediately what he was talking about. Before they'd left, they'd told her what their plans were._

"_All of them? The Horcruxes are all gone?" she asked, hardly breathing._

_It was Hermione who answered, "Yes. We did it." She sank down into the settee, and closed her eyes. Ron crossed the room to sit next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Hermione moved her head to rest on his shoulder._

_Ginny found herself wondering when they'd become more than just friends, but pushed the thought from her head when she saw that Harry was still standing near the portrait hole, looking lost._

"_Harry?" She ventured, "Come and sit down. You must be tired."_

_Harry nodded, and moved to sit next to Neville. Ginny couldn't help but feel hurt; had he not sat next to her on purpose? Over the year, she'd thought a lot about her feelings for Harry. She'd got angry, she'd cried, she'd sworn blind that she felt nothing for him, before finally realising that nothing about her feelings had changed. She still cared a lot for him. Loved him, even._

_And now he was here, and it felt surreal. Her nerves were fizzing, her mind running in fast-forward, imagining a grand reunion between the two of them, picturing him showering kisses on her face, gently caressing her lips with his own._

_She was pulled from her over-imaginative mind when Luna posed the question that she'd had on the tip of her tongue since Harry, Ron and Hermione had appeared in the Common Room._

"_So where is Voldemort now? Does he know that all of his Horcri are gone?"_

_Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ginny couldn't help but smile at Luna's inventive grammar._

"_He shouldn't know," Harry sighed, "but we think he does. The last Horcrux was the hardest to destroy. It was hidden inside Malfoy Manor. We barely got away with our lives – and we think Draco saw us before we left."_

"_And you think he'll have told Voldemort?" Neville questioned, his eyes wide._

_Ron snorted, "Of course he'll have told him. Bloody ferret."_

"_So what happens now?" Ginny asked, "Why are you here?"_

"_Only place we could think of to come."_

"_Have you seen McGonagall?"_

"_Yes," Hermione replied, her eyes still closed, "she told us to come up here and rest. She's gone to London to meet with Moody."_

888

A noise startled her from her reverie, and she whipped around, wand at the ready. An owl swooped across her line of vision, and she breathed a sigh of relief as it hooted; that had been the noise.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had slept for most of the afternoon, whilst Ginny sat in a window seat, staring across the bleak, grey grounds. Even Hogwarts, once so vibrant and colourful, bustling and busy, had fallen prey to the grey ceiling that covered the wizarding world.

There were less than fifty students at Hogwarts now. Parents had been pulling their children out all year. Several staff members had gone too, Professors Vector and Sinistra had left to care for their families, while Professor Flitwick spent most of his time at Order Headquarters in London.

Ginny had stayed there, sitting in the window seat for the rest of the evening. It had been at eleven o' clock when she'd seen it. A procession of dotted lights at the back of the Forbidden Forest, moving slowly into its depths.

Things had moved quickly after that. She'd woken Harry, Ron and Hermione, told them what she'd seen, and they'd decided to go and investigate. And now here she was, in the forest, separated from the others.

Before they'd left, Harry had gazed at her with a sort of…longing in his eyes. She didn't know why she'd done it, but she'd leaned up and kissed him softly on his lips. It wasn't a passionate kiss, it was a kiss of promise, a kiss that told him her feelings for him, a kiss of hope for the future. Neither of them had said anything, and then they had left the common room, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

She wished now they'd told someone where they were. She wished they hadn't come into the forest. She wished she knew where everyone was.

Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. She heard a muffled voice, a louder voice shouting, the hissing noise of a spell being launched, and then a cry of pain.

Her heart shot into her mouth as she realised it was Harry. Harry fighting someone. Harry getting hurt.

She began to run towards the voices, wincing as she heard another cry of pain, and flinching when she heard an answering scream of high-pitched laughter. Voldemort.

Ginny cursed her short legs, wishing that she could run faster, not caring now that her feet pounding through the leaves were making so much noise.

Suddenly, there was a volley of noise, shouted curses and shield spells, laughter, cries of pain, a sickening crack, and then…silence.

Her heart stopped. What had happened? Why, oh why, couldn't she run faster? Harry needed her…

She came upon the clearing quite abruptly. She was running through trees, and then suddenly, there were none. Moonlight bathed the forest's bald spot, and Ginny's eyes darted around wildly, searching for Harry.

Her eyes fell upon two prone forms in the middle of the clearing. One was quite clearly Harry, she'd know that messy hair anywhere. The other…the other didn't look human.

She made her way over to the motionless figures, and gasped as she saw Voldemort. His robes were ripped, and she could see a long gash on his thin, pale chest. His head was hanging at an unnatural angle from his body; his neck was quite obviously broken.

She turned her attention away from the broken body of Voldemort, and looked at Harry. He was unconscious…but other than that, he didn't look too bad. She dropped to her knees next to him, reaching out her hand to stroke his hair back from his forehead.

"Harry…" she whispered, shaking him slightly, "Harry, wake up."

He stirred, his eyes flickering.

"Come on Harry," she soothed, "it's over. You did it. Voldemort's dead." She stroked his hair.

Slowly, his eyes opened, and she stared down into their emerald depths.

"Ginny?" he said, he whispered, his voice cracking as he said her name.

"Shh," she smiled down at him, "it's all right."

"I don't-" he began, and Ginny could see his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat, "why are you here? Thought you'd gone back to the castle."

"No," she giggled nervously, "I just got lost."

Harry smiled back up at her, and he started to sit up, wincing as he did so.

"Head hurts," he said, putting his hand to the back of his head, pulling it away covered in blood.

"Oh, Harry!" Ginny gasped, then stood up, holding out her hand to Harry. "Come on, we need to get to the hospital wing. It's not safe to stay in here anyway – there will still be Death Eaters around."

"Correct, Miss Weasley." An aristocratic voice intoned from behind them.

Ginny whirled around, her wand outstretched, eyes widening in fear as she saw Lucius Malfoy standing at the head of a group of Death Eaters. She felt Harry standing up behind her, felt him place his hand on her shoulder.

"Expelliarmus," Malfoy said, almost lazily, and Ginny watched as if in a trance, as her wand sailed through the air into his outstretched hand.

And then all hell broke loose. The Death Eaters began advancing on them, Ginny began to feel panicked, she was wandless, and Harry was injured – what chance did they stand?

Harry stepped in front of her suddenly, and began shooting spells at the black robed men. Ginny saw one of them fall, but they were outnumbered – twenty Death Eaters versus two teenagers. This was the end, she knew it.

Ginny wanted time to tell Harry how much she loved him, she wanted time to kiss him one last time, she wanted to tell him all the things she'd thought over the past year. She wanted…she wanted to hug him and never let go.

But there was no time, the Death Eaters weren't going to give them time. The last thing she saw before everything went black was Harry falling to the ground.

888

_My head hurts_, was the first coherent thought that entered Ginny's head when she began to come round. The second was _why am I still alive?_

She blinked, eyelids flickering as a harsh light filtered into her eyes. Trying to move her arms, she found she couldn't, they were tied behind her back. Something hard was biting into her back, it felt like she was tied to a wooden pole.

She opened her eyes again, searching for Harry, and saw him similarly tied on the other side of the clearing, his head was lolling onto his chest, he was clearly still unconscious.

She could see now that the bright light that had assaulted her eyes before was a succession of fires, ringing the clearing, the flames dancing and licking the lower branches of the first circle of trees.

There were no Death Eaters left in the clearing that Ginny could see, and it appeared as though Voldemort's body had been moved.

Ginny returned her gaze to Harry, willing him to be all right, wishing that they would get out of here unharmed.

"I see you have rejoined us, Miss Weasley." Malfoy's voice cut across the clearing.

Ginny did not take her gaze from Harry, refusing to acknowledge Malfoy.

"Tut, tut, did your Mother teach you no manners?" His voice was mocking as he stepped into her line of view, coming so close she could smell his pungent breath.

"Piss off, you bastard."

"Now, now, Miss Weasley. I'd prefer it if you showed me a little respect." He pronounced each word sharply and clearly, "Perhaps I should teach you a little lesson in respect?" he pointed his wand at her, then, "Crucio!"

Ginny had never felt such pain in her life. It felt as though her insides were being torn apart, it was a burning pain, a searing pain, hot through her veins. She could hear herself screaming in pain, she tried to writhe away from it, but there was no escape. She faintly heard someone shout her name, and then, almost as soon as it had started, the pain ended.

Malfoy lowered his wand, looking smug, before turning to look at where Harry was tied up.

"Welcome to the world of the living, Mr Potter! Have a good look around, while you still can." Malfoy then raised his wand at Ginny again, in preparation, Ginny was sure, to perform the cruciatus curse once more.

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Harry's voice echoed through the clearing.

Malfoy lowered his wand, and strode over to where Harry was tied up. Ginny could not hear what they said to each other, but whatever Malfoy said to Harry, made Harry very angry.

Ginny had to watch as Malfoy stepped back, lifted his wand and performed the cruciatus curse on Harry. She felt a cry of protest rip from her throat, felt a hot tear escape onto her cheek as she listened to his strangled moans, his roars of pain.

"Harry…"

Malfoy lowered his wand, and Ginny watched as he put his mouth near Harry's ear, whispering something to him. She could see Harry's face screw up in obvious pain, and Ginny wanted to go to him, to comfort him.

Malfoy then stalked away from where Harry was tied up, and levelled his wand at Harry. Ginny could see the smirk on the blonde-haired man's face as he once again said something to Harry.

Malfoy lifted his wand above his head, and Ginny realised with horror what was about to happen.

"NO!" she yelled, she couldn't let this happen, not now, not when Harry had killed Voldemort, "No…"

Harry turned to look at her, his green eyes, once so full of life, deadened with pain.

Ginny felt an ache beginning to build in her heart, tears falling freely now, she couldn't bear this, she couldn't look, she couldn't watch the only man she had ever loved be murdered.

"GINNY! I LOVE YOU!"

Her head snapped up and she looked across the clearing at Harry, he was breathing heavily, she could see his cheeks glistening with tears.

"I LOVE YOU GINNY! I LOVE YOU AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU! Please…"

Her heart was aching more than ever; she knew that he wanted her to tell him that she loved him, wanted to hear her say those words…

"I LOVE YOU TOO HARRY! I always have…"

"I LOVE YOU SO MUCH GINNY, I LOV-"

There was a flash of green light.

A guttural cry wrenched itself from Ginny's throat, she felt her body heaving with grief, her throat constricting and her eyes stinging with tears. Harry was dead.

"THIS WAS NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!" She yelled, sobs wracking through her body, as she watched Malfoy making his way over to her. And then there was a flare of green light that hit him in the back and he fell lifeless to the forest floor.

Ginny closed her eyes, occasionally letting out whimpers of pain. She didn't look to see who had cast the killing curse. She didn't want to know. She didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore.

And then she heard several popping noises around her, and opened her eyes.

There was her Mum. And McGonagall. Someone who looked like Moody. The Order.

But they were too late.

Too late.

888

A/N: Thankyou for reading, and please review!


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